Well, here are mold articles on Katrina -- and I'm betting on many, many more in the next few weeks. If anyone makes there way to the Gulf Coast and can tell me what kinds of mold they are finding, I'd like to know. I'm especially curious about whether or not xerophillic mold genus are growing on, or with, hydrophillic mold genus after the dry-out. And, by the way, the folks at Har-Bro are matching their employees' Katrina donations up to $50,000.

Mold is normally present in all homes, but is usually harmful only in large concentrations to allergic or sensitive individuals according to a report published in the March 2005 Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

"Although toxic mold has received much media attention lately, toxic reactions caused by fungal exposure have not been found to be a significant health problem," said lead author Jay M. Portnoy, The Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. "The more common household molds, when in the presence of moisture, can proliferate and cause problems and health effects that are generally due to allergy or irritation to fungal substances."

SCOTTS VALLEY  Negotiators continue to talk as a Sept. 26 trial date looms in the lawsuit over shoddy construction at Scotts Valley High School.

The Scotts Valley Unified School District filed a $33 million lawsuit in 2001, claiming that more than 40 contractors are to blame for a laundry list of problems encountered after opening the school six years ago.

As the humanitarian crisis recedes, financial ruin will step up to threaten many of Hurricane Katrina's victims, especially those whose homes are flooded.

Flood insurance is not included in standard homeowner policies, but it is available through the federal government. The National Flood Insurance Program, the branch of the Federal Emergency Management Agency that provides flood insurance, expects more than $2 billion in insured losses from Katrina's floodwaters.

CBN.com  (CBN News) - The mayor of New Orleans is warning that the water in the city is a toxic brew of human waste, dead bodies, and mosquitoes.

Health officials are concerned that everyone in the ravaged areas could catch life-threatening viruses and bacterial infections. And to compound the problem, there is a shortage of much-needed vaccines, including tetanus.

For the buildings left standing by the winds and waters; for the houses that escaped serious damage from the toxic soup of bacteria and chemicals still sloshing in Katrina's wake, the next plague coming, experts say, is mold.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Mold problems often appear five to six weeks after a flood as evidenced by more than 545 individuals inquiring about mold clean-up at the state and federal disaster mitigation and home supply store outreach currently in Broome and Cortland counties. But steps can be taken to combat mold growth and its potential to cause serious health problems as well as structural damage to homes and businesses according to state and federal officials.

Mold is made up of simple microscopic organisms found virtually everywhere. Generally, mold growth occurs when three conditions prevail: a constant moisture source, a growing medium, and climatically favorable conditions  high heat and humidity. Limiting these three conditions helps keep mold at manageable levels. Flood waters, as a moisture source, can be self limiting. Flood waters rise; flood waters ebb. But flood waters that invade a household can have long lasting affects unless steps are taken to lessen their impact. Removing some flood contaminated materials and household goods and thoroughly cleaning or drying out others are essential steps to combat mold.

All but one of Mobile County's public schools are set to open today. Grand Bay Middle School, severely damaged due to Hurricane Katrina, won't be opening for another six months, officials said last week.

Grand Bay Middle's students will begin attending Causey Middle School in west Mobile on Tuesday on a split-shift, with Causey's children in class in the mornings and Grand Bay's in the afternoons.

(Bridgeport-AP, Sept. 11, 2005 3:05 PM) _ Workers at a state courthouse in Bridgeport say toxic mold in the 120-year-old building is making them ill. They blame state judicial officials with trying to cover up the problem.

A state study of the building found mold but state officials say it did not pose a health risk and has been cleaned up.

RISMEDIA, Sept. 12, 2005  Hurricane Katrina is a most poignant reminder that U.S. insurers, government and consumers are at enormous risk from escalating losses from hurricanes and other weather- related events. While no individual hurricane can be attributed to global warming, rising global temperatures in the coming decades are likely to cause significant increases in severe weather events, such as hurricanes, floods, hailstorms, wildfires, droughts and heat waves.

Unless insurers and their regulators take steps to address this growing challengeparticularly in an era of escalating climate change impactscompanies, governments, and the public will suffer even greater financial losses in the future, according to a new report released by the Ceres investor coalition.

Homeowner's insurance is an afterthought for many consumers. While insurance is required to secure a mortgage, few expect to use their policy for anything more than slight damage from a leaky water heater or a few broken windows in a hailstorm.

But natural disasters like hurricane Katrina shed new light on the need to reexamine your insurance policy and sign on the dotted line after you've determined the breadth of coverage you need to protect your assets in a worst-case scenario.

Though a large-scale break out of infectious disease has yet to materialize on the Gulf Coast, health experts warned Friday that a public health crisis may have yet to be avoided.

In areas where the water has receded, health officials were concerned about toxic dust the water has left behind. Reporting from Mississippi Friday, FOX News' Shepard Smith said that just about everything that had once been submerged in the polluted flood waters was now covered in a thick layer of dusty residue that may contain the same bacteria and toxins that had contaminated the water. .

LINDON, Utah, Sept. 9, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Electric Aquagenics Unlimited, Inc. (EAU) (OTCBB:EAQU) today announced favorable results of protocol studies for the use of Empowered Water(tm) (electrolyzed oxidative water technology) in mold remediation. EAU has been working with a leading insurance restoration company and Restoration Sciences, LLC to define the protocol. After a year long study under the direction of Dr. Bruce Lantrip and Dr. Gene Cole of Restoration Sciences, results demonstrated dramatic reductions of mold counts on both contaminated surfaces and in air using multiple EAU technologies to establish a new system of removing harmful mold without the use of toxic chemicals.

EAU has used Empowered Water(tm) to successfully treat mold in homes and commercial office buildings in Utah and California for the past five years. However, the Company has been awaiting recognition from a National certification body in order to market its revolutionary mold remediation technology. EAU looks forward to attaining that certification in the near future, as Dr. Cole and Dr. Lantrip are both deeply involved with national certification bodies for the carpet and mold industries.

Hurricane Katrina has spun its wrath upon the Gulf Coast states, and now the monumental task of rebuilding awaits those returning to shattered or heavily damaged homes.

What materials will they use to rebuild? The Federal Emergency Management Agency encourages use of building materials that ward off wind loads or minimize damage in flood-prone areas. The materials hold promise, too, for homeowners in humid, damp locales.

ALPINE, UT, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - American Biotech Labs, a private company of which Clifton Mining Company is the largest shareholder, owning 24%, has just completed testing of its ASAP- AGX-32 disinfectant product against a potentially deadly black mold, Stachybotrys charatum. The ASAP-AGX-32 achieved a kill rate greater than 99.9 % in just 10 minutes of contact time.

Black mold can be a serious problem in dry, as well as damp, locations. The presence of Stachybotrys charatum, because of its extreme toxicity, can make any building uninhabitable. It is particularly dangerous in flood-damaged buildings.

PRESCOTT, AZ -- (Market Wire - Sep 12, 2005) -- Produce Safety & Security International, Inc. (OTC: PDSC) announced today that the first trailer load of Spherequat 1000 will be delivered to a Lake Charles, Louisiana, warehouse as part of a joint program with International Fumigators Inc. (IFI) The Spherequat 1000 will be used as part of a process for salvage, cleanup, sanitation, mold and disease control.

"This is the first of many joint process programs using our products in conjunction with International Fumigators," stated Clarence Karney, CEO of Produce Safety and Security. "We are pleased to be working with IFI to begin the cleanup of the devastation brought on by Hurricane Katrina. We look forward to contributing to the efforts to get the Gulf region back on its feet as quickly as possible."

CSC, Inc. is an environmental consulting firm headquartered in Chatsworth CA with a staff of engineers, geologists, certified industrial hygienists and other technically-trained professionals has investigated and managed hundreds of sites. We have a full understanding of the requirements outlined in CERCLA, RCRA, NEPA, TSCA, AHERA and HUD, as well as other federal, state and local environmental regulations.

Moisture Control is the key for microbial management. Moisture in buildings can be in the form of water vapor or as a liquid. The presence of moisture on the surface of building materials or inside structural components is the primary factor in sustaining microbial growth, which may lead to exposure to microbial emissions of spores and their metabolites, such as particle-containing mycotoxins and microbial Volatile organic compounds (mVOCs).